NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Patrick Ewing had an ugly return and the
New York Knicks notched an ugly win.

Ewing missed all eight of his shots but Latrell Sprewell picked
up the slack with 31 points as the Knicks fought off the pesky
Philadelphia 76ers, 85-78, for their fourth win in five games.

Ewing was activated from the injured list prior to the game. The
aging superstar center had not played since Game Two of the
Eastern Conference finals due to a partially torn Achilles
tendon. He had surgery during the offseason and returned to
practice earlier this month.

"It's my first day back," Ewing said. "I'm just going to take
it a game at a time. It's my first game, I practiced with the
team twice. I'm trying to fit in and help the team to win."

Introduced as the starting center, Ewing received a standing
ovation from the sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. He won
the opening tip but his only impact came on the backboards as he
pulled down 10 rebounds.

"I appreciate it, what the crowd did," Ewing said. "They
acknowledged the fact I have been out a while. It was a long
road coming back and they welcomed me."

"He did all right," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He hit
some big free throws and got some rebounds. He did fine. I
think it is a little bit of game condition and a little bit of
fatigue."

In 30 minutes, Ewing made 7-of-8 free throws and committed five
fouls. As expected, he appeared out of sync with the rest of
the offense, which has played a bit faster in his absence.

"There are no adjustments, it's just getting back into
basketball condition," Ewing said. "I haven't played basketball
in six months, so I had to get used to it and have to get used
to the new rules."

"I think he came up and grabbed some big boards for us," said
Sprewell. "He made his free throws. It's just nice to see Pat
on the floor competing with us. If anything, Patrick's presence
is a positive. He's a big part of this team."

Sprewell compensated for poor shooting games by Ewing and Allan
Houston by making 13-of-21 shots, including the clinching jumper
with 1:07 left. He also was the only Knick to make a 3-pointer
in 11 attempts.

"I'm just trying to let the game come to me," Sprewell said. "I
didn't want to go out there and start forcing up shots."

Houston made just 3-of-15 shots and scored six points. Larry
Johnson and Marcus Camby scored 12 points apiece for New York,
which beat Philadelphia for the 19th time in the last 21
meetings at Madison Square Garden.

Tyrone Hill had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Larry Hughes
scored 13 points for the 76ers, who fell to 6-4 without star
guard Allen Iverson. The NBA's scoring leader could return from
a broken thumb as early as Saturday against Charlotte.

"I could have played tonight," Iverson said. "They (the
doctors) are going to do what is best for me. My doctor knows a
lot more about the injury. If he tells me to sit out, that's
what I have to do."

A three-point play by Sprewell gave the Knicks a 71-64 lead with
5:52 to play before the 76ers went on an 8-2 run, closing to
73-72 on a jumper by Eric Snow with 3:55 remaining.

Charlie Ward answered with a floater in the lane and Ewing made
two free throws before Camby's layup pushed the advantage to
79-72 with 2:38 to go. George Lynch made a 3-pointer and the
Sixers forced a bad pass by Camby, but Snow missed a 3-pointer.

Ewing made two more free throws with 1:33 remaining. After a
free throw by Hughes, Sprewell drilled a jumper from the right
wing to seal it at 83-76 with 1:07 left. Ewing added two more
foul shots in the final minute.

"He made some big free throws down the stretch, but he did
struggle a little bit," Sixers coach Larry Brown said.

The Knicks shot 41 percent (33-of-80) from the field and held
the Sixers to 36.5 percent (31-of-85). Philadelphia also was
just 15-of-25 from the line.

"We made some pretty bad decisions and took pretty bad shots,"
Brown said. "When we shoot 36 percent like we do, and poor from
the free throw line, and we still have a chance to win, we had
to be doing things pretty good."

Billy Owens had 12 points and 12 rebounds and George Lynch added
10 and 10 for the Sixers.

Sprewell scored 20 points in the first half, which ended with
Philadelphia holding a 44-40 lead. Johnson scored nine points
in a 14-2 run early in the third quarter and New York took the
lead for good at 60-58 on Sprewell's runner with 2:02 left in
the period.